The covering of knotted rattan is made as follows: Six pliable lengths of No. 4 brown rattan are needed for this covering. They must be carefully selected, for as they are to be tied they should, when wet, be almost as pliable as cord. It is not difficult to find them as soft as this, especially after they have been dyed. In starting, a length of rattan which has been wet until soft is tied around the jar at about half an inch from the top. The long end is twisted once around this foundation ring. This may be done off of the jar if it is easier. When the ring has been replaced on the jar, two pieces of very pliable rattan about sixty inches long are doubled around the ring at the middle of the front of the jar and tied in a Solomon’s knot, as already described (see [Fig. 47]). The second part of the knot, however, is not tied as the raffia was in making the knotted covering for the Indian bowl. Instead, the end which is on the right after the first knot has been tied is brought over to the left, above the middle strands, and the one on the left, coming down over its end, goes back of the middle strands and up through the loop left in starting the right strand (see [Fig. 48]). Another pair of strands of the same length is tied in this way around the ring at the middle of the back of the jar, and a pair at either end. The strands at the right of the knot in the middle of the front are then brought beside those at the left of the group on the right end, and these are knotted as just described, at about an inch and three-quarters from the first row, and at the corner of the jar. The remaining strands of the group on the right end are knotted with those at the left of the group in the middle of the back, and so on around the jar. There will then be four knots, all an inch and three-quarters from the first row, and each at a corner of the jar. Three more rows of knotting are made in the same way, and then the four ends remaining at the front and back after the fifth row of knots has been made are wet with warm water until very pliable and tied together under the jar. Those from the sides are tied in the same manner and at the same place. All the ends are bound securely just below these knots with fine wire, and over this an inch-wide band of raffia. The ends are cut irregular lengths, the longest not more than fourteen inches from the bottom of the jar.
A handle is then made as follows:
A piece of pliable brown rattan, No. 4, about two yards long, is wet until soft and passed around the knot nearest the top at one end of the jar. The ends are brought together and twisted for their entire length. At the opposite end of the jar they are brought around the knot nearest the top, turned up, and firmly bound to the handle with a piece of wire, which may then be covered with a binding of raffia.
Take care to make this wire binding secure, for this is the place where the greatest strain comes. It is in such places as this that the Oriental craftsmen show their superiority. Their ends, thus bound, are bound to stay, while ours sometimes slip.
Jar of Flemish Pottery Inclosed with Pale-Green Rattan
Materials required:
A jar of Flemish pottery, 4 inches high, 2½ inches in diameter at the bottom and 1 inch at the top,